2023-08-04 Fri

APSARA was the first Nuclear Research Reactor in India and Asia, commissioned by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) started functioning on 04 August 1956. The Nuclear reactor APSARA was commissioned by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The reactor was designed by Dr. Homi Bhabhi with assistance from the United Kingdom (which also provided the initial fuel supply consisting of 80 percent enriched uranium).

The reactor was shut down in 2009 and was started again after 9 years in 2018. The research reactor's upgraded version, like its ancestor, is indigenously made and replaces the earlier French made enriched fuel with an Indian made enriched fuel.

India post issued a definitive postage stamp features the Atomic Reactor in Trombay. This blue grey/green stamp has the multiple Ashoka Pillars as its watermark.

Image Courtesy: Mintage World